Even veteran fans were caught off-guard by the Pokemon Legends: Arceus announcement that recently dropped. The trailer, which released on Pokemon Day 2021, was presented as a bonus trailer that followed an entirely different game’s revelation: Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
While the Generation 4 remake reveals were certainly well-received, they were also well expected. Pokemon Legends: Arceus, on the other hand, was essentially the announcement of most PokeFans’ dreams, despite its somewhat daunting 2022 release date.
Among many other things, Pokemon Trainers have been calling for an open-world style Pokemon RPG for years now. So when yet another “remake” of older games was announced, many fans felt like it was just another year of usual Pokemon traditions. Needless to say, the Pokemon Legends: Arceus trailer that sneaked onto screens just after the Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl reveal was precisely the epic bombshell that fans didn’t dare to expect.
That being said, Pokemon Legends: Arceus wasn’t wholly well-received. Despite the undeniable excitement, some fans were taken aback by several things, two of which are actually quite related. Namely, that Pokemon Legends still looks a bit clunky, and that it won’t be coming to Switch until at least early 2022. First of all, as many have pointed out, this is the game’s first trailer so clunkiness is more than expected. But more importantly, that’s precisely why fans shouldn’t be too upset to have to wait a bit longer. In light of recent drama with hits like Cyberpunk 2077, it suffices to say that fans should celebrate a game studio’s decision to take its time.
When Skyrim made its debut, it became the reference point for many of the arguments in support of a free-to-roam open-world Pokemon game. “How great would a Pokemon Skyrim be?” was generally the question heard on social media, but fans really meant two major, specific notions: It would be amazing to explore a region of the Pokemon world with the same in-depth (and fully rendered) way that games like Skyrim allow. Additinoally, active and time-sensitive Pokemon battles, rather than traditional turn-based battles, would be a thrilling change. This idea only multiplied in popularity when The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild made its debut.
Quite literally a game changer, Breath of the Wild made it crystal clear to Pokemon fans that Nintendo had the capacity to produce precisely the kind of expansively thorough and thoughtful Pokemon game they hoped for. Now, of course, fans are quickly pointing out how Pokemon Legends: Arceus is effectively a Pokemon-themed Breath of the Wild, which is by no means a damning criticism.
Generally speaking, the only times fans have truly engaged in real-time Pokemon battles are in the game Pokken Tournament which only features a handful of the 800+ Pokemon in existence, and in Super Smash Bros., which isn’t solely a Pokemon game. The opportunity to seamlessly transition from world exploration to battles would be a welcome addition to Pokemon, especially since it recently flirted with the idea of Pokemon being visible in the overworld in Pokemon Let’s Go and Pokemon GO. Being able to see Pokemon as one explores is great, but the illusion of openness is shattered when exploring can be interrupted by a pre-battle loading screen.
There’s also the issue of capturing Pokemon. Games have toyed with the notion of using motion control and finger-swiping to simulate the Poke Ball-throwing experience. However, it’s difficult to simulate the difficulty of actually having to hit a living and moving creature with a small ball. Pokemon Legends: Arceus hopes to give players a taste of this experience. Which is to say, along with all of the above, Pokemon Legends‘ developers have a lot of work to do. Not to mention, it’s groundbreaking work, at least for the realm of Pokemon.
If fans are truly hoping for the revolutionary Pokemon experience they’ve dreamed of since the 8-bit-adjacent days, then a 2022 release date should be embraced. In fact, it would be best not to even worry about Pokemon Legends‘ approaching release date – let its developer take its sweet time. This game promises to let Pokemon Trainers actually sneak and roll across the grass in pursuit of Pokemon, in true open world fashion. It also seems to offer a unique historical perspective on the Pokemon universe, which is rarely offered in as great of detail. A rushed release will only contribute to the failure of these new mechanics, and all things considered, 2022 is relatively close.
In fact, a 2022 release date feels just about as early as would be reasonable. Given that Trainers will be able to brush up on Generation 4 knowledge with Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl in 2021, they’ll be more than ready to take on the days of Sinnoh yore with Pokemon Legends when it drops the year after. And of course, players should always remember that release dates often change (especially in times of COVID-19). “Early 2022” is the very first released date announced for the game, so it wouldn’t be surprising in the least to see this being bumped back further into the year.
Regardless of delays though, the game’s trailer made two things very clear: First, that this is an incredibly ambitious project. Second, that it could still use a lot of work. Graphics included, the game didn’t look significantly “newer” than Pokemon Sword and Shield, as well as the game in motion still seemed a bit rough and early on in development. Thankfully, this is the first set of footage that has been released, so it should only get better from here. Spring may be arriving (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least), but the Pokemon Legends team has more than half of 2021 left to fine-tune this monumental project.
Given how unique and large-scale Pokemon Legends seems, and how well-concealed its announcement was, it’s safe to assume that The Pokemon Company is hoping for a big hit. Depending on this game’s success, fans may start to see a shift in the direction of Pokemon games, if not simply an entirely new line of mainstream games to enjoy. But again, perfection can’t be rushed.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus will be available for Nintendo Switch in 2022.
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